Beth Bartel, a first-year master's student in the University of Colorado journalism school, works on a video project at the school's Armory building Tuesday. In the background is Stephanie Riesco, a sophomore broadcast production major.
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MARTY CAIVANO
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The discontinuance of the journalism school is on the Board of Regents agenda as a "discussion item" at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 23 on the Boulder campus. The meeting is in the first-floor conference room in the Qwest Research Park, 4001 Discovery Drive.

Public comment is scheduled at 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at the same location.

The University of Colorado should eliminate its standalone journalism degree and create both a new school of information and an institute to study the "global digital future," according to documents released Tuesday by the Boulder campus.

CU officials announced in August that they would take unprecedented steps to possibly close down CU's traditional School of Journalism and Mass Communication, citing budget cuts and the rapid evolution of media.

Through the program discontinuance process, a CU panel and top campus leaders have recommended shutting down the traditional school and relocating its tenured professors elsewhere on campus.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano, in a letter released Tuesday, suggested that CU's standalone bachelor's degree in journalism no longer be offered to new students after the fall 2012 semester. Students, however, still will be able to make journalism a secondary pursuit through a double-major or minor.

Current journalism students will be able to complete their degrees. Pre-journalism majors -- students who have not yet been admitted to the journalism school -- will still be able to earn degrees.

Freshman Sally Rosen, a pre-journalism major from the Washington, D.C., area, said she's disappointed that future students won't be able to earn a bachelor's in journalism.

"It's not like the field is going away; it's just changing," she said.

Rosen said the uncertainty around the program has caused her to consider transferring to another college or switching majors.

Jeffrey Cox, associate vice chancellor of faculty affairs, said CU is still recruiting high school seniors who want to study journalism.

"We can't cross every 'T' and dot every 'I' of what the future of journalism education will look like," he said. "We will continue to offer a first-rate journalism education, but the details of the degree are in transition."

Stephen Jones, assistant dean of the journalism school, said he is in constant communication with prospective students, including those transferring into the journalism program. He said the changes, including the double-major requirement, will give students an edge in the job market.

"If done correctly, it would set them apart," he said.

An exploratory panel has been working this semester to consider a new program for "information and communication technology." The panel's report, released Tuesday, gives campus leaders three options:

Create a school or college of information, communication and media technology. The school would offer interdisciplinary curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Faculty members would be recruited to form a mix of scholars and artists.

Create an Institute for the Global Digital Future that would "engage and advance the transformative potentials generated at the intersections of information, communication, media and technology" through research and creative work. The institute would focus on the contemporary problems and opportunities of those fields.

Create both the school and the institute, which is the option the committee favors.

"Institute research and creative work would flow back into the school or college, keeping its curricula and ongoing research and creative work vibrant and current," the report says.

Separately, DiStefano is recommending that CU close its traditional journalism school, but that journalism education remain a part of campus curriculum.

In a memo to President Bruce Benson, the chancellor elaborated on details of the transition, including transferring tenured faculty members to the Graduate School.

"Such a move will involve minimal disruption to the work of the faculty while preserving assets for the campus," DiStefano wrote.

DiStefano said the campus will fulfill current contracts for non-tenured instructors and staff members, but decisions about future employment depend on demand for journalism instruction.

Associate professor Elizabeth Skewes said the memo did not provide enough detail about how faculty members, including tenure-track professors who relocated to Boulder to teach, would be affected by the discontinuance.

"What I don't see is a lot of recognition that these are real people embedded in these recommendations and this talk about 'at-will' and 'finding new homes' and 'doing our best,'" said Skewes, who has tenure.

Paul Daugherty, an instructor in the broadcast program, is one of those at-will employees. He said he sees a lot of potential in the recommendations, but he worries about whether he'll still have a place at CU.

"I see a lot of changes in the industry that the strategic alignment is trying to meet," he said. "I like to think that I'm a vital cog in this machine, but who knows?"

Skewes said she also has concerns about the creation of a certificate program in journalism at the same time students pursuing a full degree have to double major.

"There's a difference between good journalism and putting out lots of information," she said. "If you're doing a certificate, I don't know how you get that grounding in what good journalism is as well as all the new media tools."

Professor Bella Mody, who teaches global media studies, said she's excited about the potential opportunities presented by an Institute for the Global Digital Future.

"I like the vision," she said. "This is an opportunity to reposition ourselves for the new world."

Like all current students, second-year master's student Marisa McNatt, 25, won't personally be affected by the proposed changes. She worries, though, that requiring all students to have another major diminishes the importance of journalism skills.

"It might provide some good fodder for a discussion: Do we need experts in various fields or do we need people with basic journalism skills who can cover a variety of things?" she said. "But I hope it doesn't de-emphasize the importance of basic journalism skills. I don't like that it would be required (to have another major)."

Right now, one in six journalism students chose to double major. A much larger number get certificates or minor in another subject.

The closure of the journalism school still requires approval from Benson and the Board of Regents.

The discontinuance process is rare: Since the late 1990s, CU has scrapped 17 programs -- such as a bachelor's degree in Central and East European studies and a Ph.D. in mathematical physics on the Boulder campus. But an entire college has never been discontinued.

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